The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it has received 12 new requests from groups wanting to become political parties. This brings the total number of pending applications to 122. Just a few days ago, on June 23, INEC had said it had 110 such applications. Sam Olumekun, INEC's National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, said in a statement on Thursday that the commission is reviewing all applications in a fair and open way.
"On Monday last week, 23rd June 2025, the commission announced that it had received applications from 110 associations seeking registration as political parties. We also assured Nigerians that we would be providing regular updates on the matter. The commission is processing these applications transparently and in fairness to all applicants," he said.
He added, "As of yesterday, Wednesday, 2nd July 2025, the commission has received 12 more applications, bringing the total to 122."
Olumekun also mentioned that details of the new applicants, such as their names, acronyms, addresses, and the names of their interim leaders, have been posted on INEC's website and other public platforms. He said the applications would be reviewed following the Electoral Act and INEC's 2022 Guidelines.
INEC also noticed that some of the groups have changed their leaders. In one case, an interim secretary was replaced after switching to another group.
To avoid delays, INEC asked all groups applying to keep their leadership and contact details the same throughout the process.
"To facilitate the consideration of these applications, the commission appeals to associations to maintain consistency of their proposed leadership and addresses so that they do not, by their own actions, cause delays to the timely consideration of their applications," the statement added.
